Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Mattis: Military Cost to Build Trump’s Border Wall Could be Limited to Bombing-Range Fences

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday said any portion of the military’s budget used to cover President Donald Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border might only amount to fencing structures along nearby bombing ranges.

Mattis made the remarks during an exchange with a Texas lawmaker during a congressional hearing.

The military could fund the wall effort for “probably the part, where if I need to…put a fence along a bombing range that’s right next to the border,” Mattis said. “This is a safety consideration. I don’t care who they are, they are human beings. I don’t want them wandering into a bombing range that was active.”

The comments were made during a wide-ranging discussion before the House Armed Services Committee that included the controversial proposal to have the military pay for Trump’s ambitious plan to build a wall along the southern border – one of the president’s central campaign promises. Some lawmakers have questioned whether such an effort is legally plausible, while some experts have said the answer lies in an extensive review of appropriations law.

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